Chapter Summaries

Song Yan learned that Mirage planned to devour him after he reached Nascent Soul, while Mirage revealed legends about the Immortal Paths at the ends of the four Dark Seas. Yangsu Divine Lord traced Song Yan’s Life Lamp to Floating Jade Island, discovered that Mirage had taken him, and secretly headed toward the Yu Abyss.

• Song Yan falsely told Mirage that Zhong Min had warned him about the Yellow Springs Way, then guessed that the Sword Sect’s seniors had gone to the Northern Dark Sea to seek Mount Buzhou.
• Mirage explained that the four Dark Seas’ extremities once held Immortal Paths and said he would devour Song Yan after Song Yan reached Nascent Soul.
• Song Yan returned to his cave abode and resumed cultivation while Mirage watched him.
• Old Chen and other villagers in Otter Mountain Village saw Yangsu Divine Lord arrive over the waters off Floating Jade Island with Song Yan’s Life Lamp.
• Yangsu Divine Lord used the lamp to view Song Yan’s recent experiences, deduced that Mirage had taken him to cultivate Song Yan’s Sword Intent before devouring him, and secretly set his course toward the Yu Abyss.

Xiao He and her companions reached Fenglin Island, hoping to learn how to rescue Song Yan, and discovered the island was hosting a major Mingling Festival because the Qilin Tribe was coming. Lingsi heard that demons from Between Mountains and Seas had arrived and set out to find Xiao He and the others.

• Xiao He used a Demon Race map to guide Zhang Chao, Li Cheng, and Idle-Fishing Boy to Fenglin Island after more than three years of travel, while she resolved to keep searching for Song Yan.
• Xiao He and her companions learned that the Mingling Festival was drawing crowds because the Qilin Tribe would attend, and they entered Fenglin Island after the guards recognized them as visitors from Between Mountains and Seas.
• A crab demon explained that the festival began as a gathering of demons hoping for the phoenixes and Qilin Tribe to return, then welcomed Xiao He and her companions as honored visitors.
• Lingsi left Qiong at the hall with Uncle Xiang and went exploring Fenglin Island with Yin Yu, who remembered Song Yan from their past encounter.
• After hearing that demons from Between Mountains and Seas had arrived, Lingsi suspected Xiao He and Song Yan were on the island and hurried off to find them.

Xiao He learned that the Mirage was hidden somewhere in the Sea Kingdom’s royal capital and joined Lingsi on the journey there to find Song Yan. Meanwhile, Song Yan cultivated in seclusion, using the Thousand-Illusion Mirage Bead to experience other lives and strengthen his Sword Intent.

• Jiuying told Xiao He and her companions that the Mirage was in the Sea Kingdom’s royal capital, but Xiao He hurried away before hearing more.
• Lingsi met Xiao He and learned that the Mirage Lord had captured Song Yan, then took Xiao He toward her home in the royal capital.
• Song Yan tried to refine the Thousand-Illusion Mirage Bead and was pulled into the life of a mortal woman, escaping only when his Sword Heart broke the illusion.
• Song Yan repeatedly used the bead for about a year, experiencing many lives and advancing his Flowers in the Mirror, Moon in the Water Sword Intent.
• Chen Linyuan told Song Yan that his Sword Intents might connect to and influence one another.

Song Yan stabilized his Flowers in the Mirror, Moon in the Water Sword Intent after it entered the third Sword Dao realm, then attended a Nuo Realm gathering and learned of major events in the Central Region. News of Jiang Gudong’s slaughter of his clansmen left Song Yan suspecting someone’s involvement.

• Chen Linyuan explained that Song Yan still needed to cultivate his other Sword Intents to the third realm and described the stages of Shatter Ten Thousand Laws and Establish One Sword.
• Song Yan read Chronicles of the Four Seas and Eight Wastes, learned legends about the four destroyed paths to heaven, and brought his unstable Flowers in the Mirror, Moon in the Water Sword Intent into the third realm.
• Song Yan sensed the Nuo Realm opening and joined its gathering, where Cuoduan, Zhong Ali, and the others recognized him.
• Tang Hulu reported that True Person Ciyu had died and that Yangsu Divine Lord had gone to the Eastern Sea seeking revenge, which gave Song Yan hope that his master had arrived.
• Wang Ke told the gathering that Jiang Gudong had gone berserk, killed many Jiang Family cultivators, and fled; Song Yan recalled their past meetings and wondered who might have been behind the escape.

Jiang Gudong received a route into Jun Mountain, killed the man who had tried to assassinate him, and took the name Jiao Xing while searching for news of Song Yan. Song Yan left the valley where Mirage had kept him and glimpsed an enormous tree on the horizon that he thought could be Jianmu.

• A disguised stranger gave Jiang Gudong a Jade Slip describing a route into Jun Mountain through Stillwater Immortal Continent, then attacked him with Flying Needles.
• Jiang Gudong escaped the attack, asked whether the stranger had once escaped Jun Mountain, and killed him before fleeing into Taiping Village Market Ward.
• Jiang Gudong saw a Tang Court wanted notice bearing his own name and decided to abandon it, taking the name Jiao Xing after clutching Little Bear’s Spirit Jiaoxing Fruit.
• Song Yan asked Mirage for permission to leave the valley, then crossed its boundary and emerged onto a high, rocky region of the Sea Kingdom.
• Song Yan looked across the distant landscape and glimpsed a colossal tree rising through the clouds, which he suspected was Jianmu.

Song Yan disguised himself as a Sea Kingdom demon and explored the Heavenly Capital, but the Elder Mirage Dragon soon returned him to Black Mountain. Meanwhile, Ling Jia faced a challenge to the Diren Tribe’s authority over the Heaven Sacrifice, and his trusted aide proposed inviting Penglai to help settle the Sea Kingdom’s leadership.

• Song Yan disguised himself as a Sea Kingdom demon, traveled through the Wilderness of the Heavenly Capital, and learned that the Sea Clan Grand Sacrifice was approaching.
• Song Yan tried to leave the Immortal Continent, but the Elder Mirage Dragon conjured an illusion of Jun Mountain and returned him to Black Mountain.
• Ling Jia assigned Kui to conduct the Sea Sacrifice and Young Qilin Qiong to conduct the Ancestor Sacrifice, but the Red-Robed Demon challenged the Diren Tribe’s continued control of the Heaven Sacrifice.
• Ling Jia admitted to his trusted aide that he wanted to give up the position of Sea Kingdom Lord but worried that doing so could spark conflict among the demon clans.
• Ling Jia’s trusted aide proposed holding a competition among the younger generation and inviting Penglai, leaving Ling Jia to consider the plan.

Ling Jia decided to invite Penglai to the Heavenly Sea Grand Sacrifice and learned that Lingsi had brought friends from Between Mountains and Seas to the palace. Lingsi discovered that the Mirage Lord was on the Thousand Mountains Great Continent, while Song Yan left his valley to pursue his sword cultivation through action.

• Ling Jia resolved to invite Penglai to the Sea Kingdom’s tournament and considered giving up the Shi Human Race’s leadership of the Demon Race.
• Lingsi returned from Fenglin Island with friends and asked Ling Jia where the Mirage Lord’s cave abode was; he told her it was on the Thousand Mountains Great Continent.
• Lingsi told Xiao He and the others the Mirage Lord’s location and proposed that she visit the Thousand Mountains while they stayed in the Heavenly Capital to search for Song Yan.
• Song Yan practiced basic sword forms against a sword-intent manifestation of himself, then left his valley to seek progress through action.

Li Qingfeng brought Cong Yuzhen to Granny Guanpo on Bitter Continent, where her tracking methods revealed that Qin Xijun might have been taken by a fire-aspect demonic bird. They followed the trail, while Qin Xijun was revealed to be in a secluded valley as a demon woman and an old Daoist discussed her final life and the Golden Crow Great Sun.

• Li Qingfeng told Cong Yuzhen that he had sought Granny Guanpo’s help before and brought her to find a way to track Qin Xijun.
• Granny Guanpo gave them a Lost Valley Spirit Branch and a feather, then asked Li Qingfeng about Song Yesheng and Song Yan; Li Qingfeng said they were the same person and that a Mirage Dragon had captured him.
• Cong Yuzhen used Qin Xijun’s Jade Seal with the Lost Valley Spirit Branch, which produced a golden, winged phantom and pointed toward the eastern horizon.
• Cong Yuzhen put on Granny Guanpo’s feather, and she and Li Qingfeng flew after the trail across the Eastern Sea.
• In a secluded valley, a demon woman asked an old Daoist if Qin Xijun could survive, and he said the Golden Crow Great Sun would never be complete without her.
• The old Daoist said Qin Xijun was living her final life as she sat beside a sea cliff, surrounded by Golden Crow phantoms.

Lingsi diverted her procession to Luoguang after hearing that a mysterious human cultivator had been protecting demons, and her guards were ambushed along the way. Song Yan appeared just as attackers reached her carriage, leaving Lingsi overjoyed to see him.

• Lingsi decided to visit Luoguang after the sea otter demon told her a human cultivator had been appearing there and subduing demons without killing them.
• Two concealed demon cultivators followed Lingsi's procession but were captured and imprisoned beneath a marsh by a dark green figure and his allies.
• More than a dozen third-tier demon cultivators ambushed Lingsi's carriage, while Yin Yu fought to protect her.
• An attacker reached into Lingsi's carriage to seize her, but Song Yan cut off his claw with Sword Qi.
• Song Yan appeared above the carriage on a Flying Sword, and Lingsi recognized him as Brother Song Yan.

Song Yan rescued Lingsi from a demon ambush and accompanied her back to the Sea Kingdom’s Royal Palace, hoping for a reward to support his sword cultivation. After Ling Jia offered him whatever reward he wanted, Lingsi stunned everyone by declaring that she wanted Song Yan to be her husband.

• Song Yan defeated the Third Tier Demon Cultivators who attacked Lingsi and helped Yin Yu capture them for interrogation.
• Lingsi learned the attackers might have been sent by the Jiuying Clan and decided to return to the Royal Palace with Song Yan.
• Song Yan agreed to accompany Lingsi because he hoped Ling Jia would reward him with Spirit Stones or other cultivation resources.
• Ling Jia learned that Song Yan had saved Lingsi and offered him any reward within his means.
• Lingsi stepped forward and declared that she had fallen in love with Song Yan at first sight and wanted him to be her husband.

Song Yan reunited with Xiao He and their companions in the Sea Kingdom’s Royal Palace, where Lingsi proposed a marriage arrangement that might help him escape the Mirage Dragon. After receiving supplies from his friends, Song Yan was forced back to the valley when the Mirage Dragon’s control over his sword intent flared.

• Lingsi declared that she wanted to be with Song Yan, and Ling Jia agreed to support their relationship while postponing the wedding and ordering an investigation into Song Yan’s background.
• Lingsi led Song Yan to her bedchambers, where he was reunited with Xiao He, Idle-Fishing Boy, Zhang Chao, and Li Cheng.
• Lingsi explained that a marriage to Song Yan could help him leave the Eastern Sea, while also allowing her to travel beyond it; Song Yan told the group that Yangsu Divine Lord had come looking for him.
• Zhang Chao and Li Cheng gave Song Yan a Heaven and Earth Bag full of Spirit Stones, treasures, and Primordial Chaos Spiritual Objects.
• Song Yan’s Flowers in the Mirror, Moon in the Water Sword Intent began to spread out of control, so he left the Royal Palace with Lingsi and returned to the valley under the Mirage Dragon’s power.
• Song Yan told the Mirage Dragon that he had visited the Royal Palace to collect a reward and acquire resources to form his Nascent Soul.

Qiong discovered that Ling Jia planned to convene an Assembly of Kings, while rumors spread that Lingsi loved Song Yan and would marry him. Unaware of the gossip, Song Yan examined six rare treasures gifted by the Sea Kingdom and Flowing Wave Mountain, ending with questions about an ancient jade bottle connected to a withered branch and the giant tree at the end of the Heavenly Sea.

• Qiong snuck onto a terrace to watch Ling Jia and Kui, then pressured Ling Jia’s trusted aide into showing him their meeting records and learned about the Sea Kingdom’s Assembly of Kings.
• Rumors spread across the Heavenly Capital that Ling Jia might abdicate and that Lingsi loved a Human Race cultivator and had her father’s consent to marry him.
• Song Yan cultivated in his cave, advancing his Chivalrous Heroes' Journey Sword Intent to the threshold of the third realm.
• Song Yan brought out six treasures given by the Sea Kingdom and Flowing Wave Mountain as preparations for forming his Nascent Soul drew near.
• Song Yan examined the Sea Kingdom’s Abyssal Eye, Suoluo Spirit Fruit, and ancient gray bottle, which reminded him of the jade bottle that had held his withered branch.

Song Yan refined the Sea Eye Celestial Eye and learned that the Sea Kingdom would hold an Assembly of Kings to choose its next ruler. As Li Qingfeng and Cong Yuzhen fled into the Yu Abyss, a Fourth-Tier Great Yao’s pressure stopped them and their pursuers.

• Song Yan examined the Nascent Soul-Forming Spirit Pill Kui had sent him, suspected it might be connected to the Spirit-Transforming Blood Pill, and decided to keep it for an emergency.
• Song Yan spent about half a year refining the Sea Eye Celestial Eye, greatly advancing the Mountain-Backed Tide-Gazing Pupil Technique.
• Mirage warned Song Yan not to let his marriage to Lingsi distract him from cultivation and said he still intended to refine him.
• King Ling Jia announced that the Sea Kingdom would hold an Assembly of Kings in three years, with the younger generation’s strength deciding the next Lord of the Sea Kingdom.
• The Jiuying Tribe celebrated the chance to challenge the Diren Tribe’s rule, while Li Qingfeng and Cong Yuzhen were pursued into the Ferocious Waters.
• A Fourth-Tier Great Yao’s crushing pressure froze Li Qingfeng, Cong Yuzhen, and the Sea Snake Yao pursuing them.

Qingqiu’s procession carried Li Qingfeng and Cong Yuzhen toward the Heavenly Capital, where the Mountain Lord revealed she planned to kill Song Yan because he was Chen Linyuan’s inheritor. Two years later, demons and human guests gathered as the Assembly of Kings approached, while Xiao He searched for Song Yan and the Jiuying Clan prepared to challenge the Diren Tribe’s rule.

• Qingqiu’s Mountain Lord brought Li Qingfeng and Cong Yuzhen into her sedan and said she intended to kill Song Yan because he was Chen Linyuan’s inheritor.
• Two years later, Xiao He and Zhang Chao searched the Yu Abyss for an elder from Jun Mountain, then headed back to the Heavenly Capital as the Assembly of Kings approached.
• An unseen pair of cloud-formed eyes watched the wooden figure at Xiao He’s waist before vanishing.
• Jiuzhao told the Ninth King that his fourth head had stabilized and vowed to win the coming contest; the Ninth King urged him to restore the Jiuying Clan’s former glory.
• Shen Xu and Xie Chan arrived at the old Penglai guest palace, where Shen Er reflected on the improving relations between humans and demons and credited Song Yan for helping make it possible.

The Assembly of Kings began at the Sea Vein Sinkhole, where Ling Jia introduced Tushan Yu and Shen Er as honored guests and Lingsi arrived with Song Yan hidden in a sealed carriage. Watching the bloody succession contest through a Revealing Spirit Jade Wall, Song Yan struggled to restrain the out-of-control killing intent caused by his progress in the Avīci Prison Sword Intent.

• Nearly a hundred thousand demons gathered at the Sea Vein Sinkhole as eight kings took their thrones and awaited Ling Jia.
• Ling Jia arrived with Tushan Yu and Shen Er, whose presence as a human sect master sparked an uproar among the demon kings.
• Lingsi brought a sealed carriage to the assembly and said her husband could not appear; Li Qingfeng and the others recognized Xiao He among her companions.
• The attendants took the carriage to a secluded viewing chamber, where Song Yan watched the assembly through a Revealing Spirit Jade Wall while concealing his surging killing intent.
• Song Yan learned that the next Lord of the Sea Kingdom would be chosen through a brutal contest in which only one fighter could remain standing, and he struggled to calm himself as his killing intent rose.

At the Assembly of Kings, the Jiuying Clan used its strength and merciless killings to force the Sea Kingdom’s tribes to accept its coming rule. Zhao challenged Ling Jia to send someone to fight in Lingsi’s place and demanded that she marry him if he won.

• Xiao He, Lingsi, Li Qingfeng, and Xie Chan watched the Assembly of Kings begin from the Diren Tribe’s seats.
• The Ranyi Demon Cultivator defeated the Hujiao Demon Cultivator with Nightmare Poison, while the Diren Tribe’s fighter forfeited against the Black Tortoise clan.
• The Jiuying Clan’s fighters killed and devoured their defeated opponents, and Zhao personally slaughtered the Yu Clan’s Young Lord.
• After the other tribes stopped entering the arena, Ling Jia said the Diren Tribe would give up its Royal Clan standing and Lingsi would not fight.
• Zhao proposed that Lingsi’s Human Race prince consort fight in her place and demanded that she become his wife if he won.

Song Yan emerged from seclusion and entered the Inner Ring Arena as the Jiuying Clan tried to force Lingsi’s husband to fight. He killed three Jiuying Snake Yao in quick succession and struck Zhao, whose unusual body revealed four hidden snake heads, leaving the confrontation poised to escalate.

• Zhao rallied the demons against Lingsi’s human husband, while Ling Jia agreed to let Lingsi ask Song Yan to appear.
• Qiong ran to mock Song Yan but froze in terror when Song Yan passed him in the corridor, leaving him collapsed in his young Qilin form.
• Song Yan entered the arena, and his killing intent frightened Zhao before he killed Xiu with a single sword strike.
• Two Jiuying Snake Yao rushed in to avenge Xiu, but Song Yan killed them both and Shen Er recognized that Song Yan was advancing his Divine Ability.
• Song Yan challenged Zhao, then pierced his head with the Unmoored Boat; Zhao’s wound healed and four snake heads emerged from his sleeves.

Song Yan defeated Zhao by exploiting the limits of his Four Infants’ regeneration, repeatedly severing three serpent heads until Zhao was weakened. After Ninth King Lang threatened him, Song Yan killed Zhao with Tide-Severing, leaving the Sea Kingdom’s kings to face the aftermath.

• Zhao revealed his four-headed true form and attacked Song Yan with water, fire, poison, and lightning, but Song Yan’s flying swords held the Demon Arts at bay.
• Zhao united his Four Infants into a serpent form with the power of a Fourth Tier Great Yao, but Song Yan pierced its skull and pinned it to the arena floor.
• Song Yan repeatedly cut down three of Zhao’s heads while leaving one alive to regenerate them, draining Zhao’s demonic bloodline and reducing him to a weakened, terrified state.
• Ninth King Lang tried to intervene and threatened Song Yan, but Ling Jia and Kui reminded him that interference would violate the rules and anger the other kings.
• After Zhao regenerated all four heads and appealed to Lang’s threat, Song Yan unleashed Tide-Severing and killed him before a hundred thousand Demon Cultivators.
• Song Yan’s killing intent subsided as Ninth King Lang cried out over Zhao’s death.

After the Assembly of Kings collapsed amid the Jiuying Clan’s withdrawal, Song Yan returned to the Thousand Mountains Great Continent and resumed cultivating while Ling Jia visited Ling Xing’s grave and considered letting Lingsi see the wider world. At Flowing Wave Mountain, Dugu Yin told Kui that Song Yan might possess a lost treasure, but Kui questioned Dugu Yin’s understanding of what Mirage had taken from him.

• Lang gathered Zhao’s remains and left with the Jiuying Clan, after which Ling Jia and the other kings suspended the Assembly of Kings without settling who would rule the Sea Kingdom.
• The Mirage Dragon took Song Yan back to the mountain valley, where he reflected on his sword progress and prepared to continue cultivating toward the Nascent Soul Realm.
• In the royal capital, demon clans debated the Sea Kingdom’s future, while Ling Jia brushed off their requests and went to visit Ling Xing’s grave.
• Ling Jia told Ling Xing that Lingsi had grown up, made friends, and brought home a Human Race husband, then wondered whether she should see the world beyond.
• At Flowing Wave Mountain, Dugu Yin told Kui that Song Yan might carry the Sword Ancestor’s treasure and described his unusual Asura Dharma Body, which condensed into a black-and-gold bead.
• Dugu Yin urged Kui to capture Song Yan so he could use his Sword Intent to recover, but Kui told him to recuperate and asked what Mirage had taken from him.

Ling Jia and Lingsi set out for the Mirage Dragon’s domain to propose a marriage, joined by Tushan Yu and the Penglai cultivators, while Shen Er explained why the alliance might help protect Song Yan. At the Mirage Dragon’s grotto-heaven, Xie Chan met a Straw-Cloaked Old Man who revealed that he had known her ancestor Xie Tianji and sent her into a vision.

• Lingsi chose an outfit for the journey, and Ling Jia reminisced about her mother, Ling Xing.
• Ling Jia agreed to let Tushan Yu and the Penglai cultivators accompany the Diren Tribe, while Qiong stayed behind to recover from Song Yan’s sword intent.
• Shen Er told Xie Chan and Shen Xu that Ling Jia’s protection of Song Yan might prevent the Mirage Dragon from harming him.
• The group reached the Mirage Dragon’s grotto-heaven, where Xie Chan recognized familiar features of the Chu Kingdom in the landscape.
• A Straw-Cloaked Old Man asked Xie Chan about her origins and sword cultivation, then identified himself as an acquaintance of her ancestor Xie Tianji.
• The old man told Xie Chan to see for herself, and she was drawn into a vision of Xie Tianji pleading for his descendant’s chance to follow the Sword Dao.